Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has been given extra security over fears that he may be the target of an attack or kidnapping by a criminal gang, local media reports say. Mr Rutte has been followed by so-called spotters linked to a drug gang, the De Telegraaf newspaper reported. Telegraaf journalist Mick van Wely told broadcaster NOS the matter was being taken “very seriously”. NOS confirmed the report but Dutch authorities declined to comment. The reported threat follows the murder of prominent Dutch journalist Peter R de Vries, who was known for investigating the criminal underworld in the Netherlands. The shooting in July stunned the country, where gun violence is rare but killings linked to organised crime have become increasingly common in recent years.(BBC)…[+]

Almost two-thirds of Swiss voters have backed same-sex marriage in a referendum. Some 64% supported the measure, making it one of the last countries in western Europe to legalise same-sex marriage. Campaigners have hailed the vote as a historic moment for LGBT rights in the country.  In the build up to the vote, church groups and conservative political parties opposed the idea, saying it would undermine the traditional family.

Switzerland has allowed same-sex couples to register partnerships since 2007, but some rights are restricted. The measure will make it possible for same-sex couples to adopt unrelated children and for married lesbian couples to have children through sperm donation. It makes Switzerland the 30th country in the world to adopt same-sex marriage.(BBC)…[+]

At least one person has been killed and nine injured after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Greek island of Crete, local officials say. The man died when the dome of a church that was being renovated in the town of Arkalochori caved in. People were sent rushing out on to the streets when the earthquake struck at 09:17 (06:17 GMT). Several aftershocks followed. Civil protection authorities said many buildings had been damaged. Both Greece and Turkey sit on fault lines and earthquakes are common. The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) initially recorded a magnitude of 6.5 while the United States Geological Survey (USGS) put it at 6.0.(BBC)…[+]

Australia’s prime minister has signalled he may not attend the UN’s landmark climate conference in November as his government faces continued criticism of its poor climate record. In an interview, Scott Morrison said he had “not made any final decisions” on attending, suggesting it was a burden. “It’s another trip overseas… and I’ve spent a lot of time in quarantine,” he told the West Australian newspaper. The COP26 summit will be the biggest global climate crisis talks in years. It is hoped that the 12-day meeting between world leaders in Glasgow, Scotland will produce the next emissions standards to slow global warming and keep temperature rise below 1.5C. But Mr Morrison said he would consider other priorities, including the reopening of Australia’s borders. “I have to focus on things here and with Covid. Australia will be opening up around that time. There will be a lot of issues to manage and I have to manage those competing demands,” he told the newspaper.(BBC)…[+]

Two men posing as lawyers shot dead a notorious gangster inside a courtroom in India’s capital, Delhi. They opened fire at Jitender Maan Gogi inside the courtroom in Rohini where a case was being heard against him. Officials say police returned fire, killing the two men. Police suspect a rival gang planned the attack. Gogi was on Delhi police’s most-wanted list and he was also an accused in dozens of cases – including murder, kidnapping and fraud – in other states. The incident has raised questions over the security of Delhi’s courts. A senior politician said that the incident showed a serious lapse in security planning. Gogi was arrested in Delhi in March last year on charges of murder and extortion. Officials said he was a target of many gangs due to his swift rise in the crime world. Reports say his career in crime began when he was a teenager and initially involved incidents of carjacking and theft.(BBC)…[+]

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says they are willing to resume talks with the South if it ends its “hostile policies”. Kim Yo-jong was responding to a renewed call from the South to officially declare an end to the Korean War. The conflict, which split the peninsula into two, ended in 1953 with an armistice and not a peace treaty. The two countries have technically been at war ever since, and locked in a sometimes tense relationship. This week, South Korean president Moon Jae-in called for the two Koreas and their allies – the US which backs the South, and China which is the North’s biggest economic partner – to declare a formal end to the conflict and bring peace to the peninsula. The idea was initially dismissed by a top North Korean minister as “premature”.(BBC)…[+]

Climate change activists are rallying in cities around Germany ahead of federal elections on Sunday.

“No political party is doing enough,” Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg told a gathering of thousands in Berlin.

The activists are calling for Germany to do more to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees C and to end the use of coal for power generation by 2030, instead of 2038. Climate change has been a central theme in the election campaign. In July, record floods swept western Germany, killing more than 180 people. However, this failed to translate into greater support for the Green Party, which is running third in opinion polls, at about 15%. The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) are in the lead, on about 25%, with the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel trailing on about 22%. Activists from the “Fridays for the Future” campaign staged protests in about 470 German towns and cities on Friday. (BBC)…[+]

France and the US have made efforts to end a row which started last week with the announcement of a defence pact between the US, UK and Australia. The Aukus pact cost France a submarine contract worth billions of dollars. In a 30-minute phone call on Wednesday, the French and US presidents agreed to try to find a way forward. The US acknowledged that the situation would have benefited from “open consultations”, and France agreed to send its ambassador back to Washington. In a carefully worded joint statement, the two governments said US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron would “open a process of in-depth consultations, aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidence”. The two leaders are set to meet in Europe at the end of next month.(BBC)…[+]

Air pollution is even more dangerous than previously thought, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, as it slashes maximum safe levels of key pollutants such nitrogen dioxide.  An estimated seven million people die prematurely each year from diseases linked to air pollution, the WHO says. Low- and middle-income countries suffer the most, because of their reliance on fossil fuels for economic development. The WHO puts air pollution on a par with smoking and unhealthy eating. It is urging its 194 member states to cut emissions and take action on climate change, ahead of the COP26 summit in November.(BBC)…[+]

A young girl who became an internet sensation when a photo of her went viral is now selling an NFT for thousands of dollars at auction. NFTs are unique digital tokens which are often attributed to art that has no physical representation. Chloe Clem, now 10, became famous in 2013 when her mother shared her unimpressed reaction to a surprise Disneyland trip online. The image has become a popular meme for expressing concern. An NFT provides a digital certificate of ownership for the piece, but bears no copyright. Therefore the winner of the auction will own the digital token representing the meme, but not the meme itself.(BBC)…[+]